DOE reportedly investigating Florida State’s handling of Winston case

Posted by Kevin McGuire on April 3, 2014, 6:45 PM EDT

It seems like there is non-stop news coming out of Tallahassee today, and we have not even touched on the viral discussions about a new logo. As we learned earlier in the day, courtesy of a report by Deadspin, Florida State conducted an investigation into Heisman Trophy quarterback Jameis Winston and the alleged sexual assault he had been accused of from December 2012. Having not found any evidence to slap any punishment on the quarterback, Winston was looking to be in the clear. That may be true, but now the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is opening up another investigation into how Florida State University handled the entire incident.

The federal investigation will review how the university handled not only the Winston accusation, but all sexual abuse incidents and accusations over the past three years, according to a report by FOX Sports. It would seem the federal investigation will want to compare and contrast how Winston’s alleged incident was handled compared to that of a non-football player.

“We’re gratified by these developments,” said Baine Kerr, one of the attorneys for a woman who alleged that Winston raped her at an off-campus apartment in December 2012. A state investigation conducted last year concluded there was not enough evidence to pursue charges of sexual assault against Winston. That decision came days before Winston led Florida State to a victory in the ACC Championship Game against Duke. Soon after that Winston was named the Heisman Trophy winner for 2013 and he went on to lead the Seminoles to the BCS Championship in January.

The Florida State investigation that was conducted found no evidence to slap any university punishments on Winston, but it did result in university charges for Chris Casher and Ronald Darby. Both of those players could be facing expulsion for their ties and actions related to the Winston case.

The university declined to comment in specifics in a statement to USA Today, but said that “generally speaking, students at any time have the right to avail themselves of the Student Code of Conduct, which sets high expectations for the university community and provides a way to adjudicate grievances. The Code of Conduct imposes no time limits on when an aggrieved student may file a complaint or when new information can be considered. The university evaluates all information it receives and acts on it when appropriate.”

Before the ‘Winston is a rapist, FSU covered the whole thing up’ comments, READ the stories. The investigation is about a past investigation about the accusations the State of Florida decided after there OWN investigation that charges were not warranted.

Further more, read the report released by the State Attorney after the decision was made not to press charges. Particularly the negative rape kit findings and the MULTIPLE DNA samples found on the accusers underwear.

As far as the university is concerned, I’m not sure what more you could expect an institution to do when the authorities didn’t conduct an investigation until 11 months after the fact.

They should investigate the Tallahassee police department first and foremost.

floridacock says:Apr 3, 2014 6:56 PM

BIG Ka Ka for FSU

chc4 says:Apr 3, 2014 7:01 PM

Mcjon22 — I suspect part of the investigation will revolve around whether the 11 month delay was something FSU was involved with. It is naive to think the university doesn’t have pull with local officials… Especially in a relatively small town like Tallahassee.

auburntigers34 says:Apr 3, 2014 7:04 PM

I’m glad to see the feds involved. If FSU conducted a complete and thorough investigation, they shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

It just makes little sense that the “witnesses” get charged for “observing” a sexual encounter while the “accused rapist” shines his national championship ring, dances a jig and pitches 3 innings of no-hit ball. Panhandle justice seems to only be administered by how good an athlete one might be…

I love winning and I love championships but if this is the price to pay I’d rather be a mediocre team that puts a few guys in the NFL to root for on Sundays. Alleged rape, theft & attempted murder are things that i do not want associated with the team I root for. Jimbo better tighten all this up real quick. I know you cant be with these guys 247 but you can decide who is on your team. Weed and Beer aint a big deal for me, Ill go out say most of us have experimented or still mess with that stuff today (ME!!!!) but rape and attempted murder is a whole nother ball game.

If some nobody sophomore student had a rape allegation against him and FSU/TPD investigated it immediately as compared waiting 11 months until it became public, then both FSU and TPD might be in hot water. By no means am I saying Jameis is guilty, but giving your football players preferential treatment and trying to sweep serious allegations under the rug might come back to bite them in the butt

chc4, hate to tell ya but Tallahassee’s a lot bigger than Auburn Dear. You need to get out your map and look closer. Where Tallahassee spreads out is in every direction along the interstate whereas Auburn is just shy of spreadin out.

So Darby and Cashner, who said he did nothing thus clearing the criminal case, spoke and are now facing expulsion but Winston who plead the 5th the entire tie is clear.

Nothing shady there AT ALL!

chc4 says:Apr 4, 2014 11:10 AM

suprmous — What does Auburn have to do with this? Lay off the crackpipe. Tallahassee is a small town, not tiny but small. I’m sure FSU is the largest employer in said small town therefore they have their tentacles throughout it. Point being I wouldn’t be at all surprised if FSU didn’t help cause some these investigative delays. Question will be whether they left a trail… or there’s a whistleblower.

A couple facts:
1. This incident was investigated ASAP and the accuser was not cooperative after her initial complaint where she provided false information. Read the SAO report.

2. It was not resurrected by the Accuser’s camp until Oregon lost and FSU became #2 and Winston the Heisman front-runner.

3. TPD and SAO Meggs have never been friends of the FSU football program and both determined no crime had been committed. Meggs has always overcharged FSU players and has been quoted saying he holds them to a higher standard.

4. The State Government is the largest employer in Tallahassee, not FSU although it is a state university.

5. 46 other Universities are also under investigation by the DOE. This is not unique to FSU.

3. TPD and SAO Meggs have never been friends of the FSU football program and both determined no crime had been committed. Meggs has always overcharged FSU players and has been quoted saying he holds them to a higher standard.
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This was determined once Cashner and Darby both said it was consensual. The same two who are now faing expulsion.

If nothing happened then why are 2 of the 3 facing any action?

dhardy8207 says:Apr 5, 2014 9:03 AM

It is strange that the one who actually stands accused (since cleared) of charges of rape faces no punishment, yet the two that taped the incident and cosigned Winston’s claim that it was all consensual are now facing charges but also in jeopardy of being expelled from the university.

“IF” she was sober enough to consent to the sex act then why should the fact that they taped it give the school grounds to take action. If anyone should be pressing charges for “taping” it, then it should be her, again that is “IF” she was aware that they were recording the incident.

Just doesn’t make sense that the two that helped clear Winston are now in hot water for doing so…

Some people here didn’t go to college but obviously love college sports. There’s this thing called a code of conduct that we all get when we enroll as students. Videoing a person while having sex is against the code of conduct on campus, just like cheating on a test, just like a number of other things. Having consensual sex as everyone with two brain cells have come to accept except the relatives of this girl and those who want to believe that all of the physical evidence is wrong and it’s a big coverup to protect a football player. Jesus, stop being so fucking thick.

Btw, get a copy of any university, community college, etc. and you’ll see pretty much similar code of conduct guidelines. Now, are you saying that Winston told them to tape him having sex, which is a pretty big leap to take since, I don’t know, neither him, the girl, or the two who actually taped the sex act said they were asked to do so, or are all of you “outraged” dummies posting on this story just trolling again? Because unless he asked them to tape him having sex with this girl, that’s the only reason you should be commenting on what is now a closed criminal case. I know that’s not fun to do though, just talk about some silly college code of conduct. Let’s bring up an alleged rape that was determined not to be a rape from any angle you or Stevie Wonder looked at things again instead. SMH

dhardy8207 says:Apr 7, 2014 12:32 PM

Aaahhh, @realfootballfan is back!…Not exactly amusing to ya when someone trashes your QB? What a shame, thought you would be able to roll with that since you had such a habit of trashing the QBs from other elite programs….

Anyhoo… I, for one have read the report and understand perfectly why the SAO said they wouldn’t prosecute Winston due to lack of evidence. However, my comment was mainly focusing on the two that did the taping. If this hook up was consensual, then was the taping consensual? Was she in other words aware that they were taping the whole affair? I would think that would be very valid, as “IF” this taping violates code of conduct and all this was available when she first reported the rape, why is it now, over a year later that the university has decided to hand out punishment and possibly expell these two. Why not do it then, or do it back when the news broke about the incident and the reported rape. It all just seems to hint to coverup and if some heads have to roll, then lets let it be the two that taped it because they violated a “code of conduct”…

Ah, what don’t you get. Taping anyone having sex on campus is against the code of conduct. Say student A tapes having sex with student B and then it comes out that they did so, you are subject to expulsion from FSU and most other university campuses too I might add. It’s no different from a number of other things that you’d get scrutinized on campus for like cheating on a test or campus parking violations that don’t extend past the college campus bubble. It’s right there in the fucking code of conduct in the student handbook if you’d like to look, I’m sure you can fetch it and read. If you can’t understand that, you have a pretty big comprehension problem.

Furthermore, I wasn’t amused or anything about anyone trashing “my QB” wtf that is supposed to mean because he doesn’t belong to me. I suppose you still have some sand in your crotch over AJ McCarron being a flaming asshole I suppose. I was simply pointing out to dummies “outraged” by this to actually get outraged in the right direction if they’re going to be. The only people they should be “outraged” at is Casher and Darby if they possibly didn’t get expelled because they are football players, which I doubt, because I’m thinking consideration was taken that they didn’t actually do anything but be present and make a dumb, childish decision that wasn’t meant to be malicious.

dhardy8207 says:Apr 11, 2014 1:06 PM

OMG….Do you and I agree on something?!?… Please say it isn’t so…

I agree that the two that taped the incident should be outraged as I tried to state earlier, IF they taped the occurrance they had to be in the room or if they taped it through through a door that was partially opened. Don’t know about you, but I’m pretty much aware of who is around and the availability of privacy during moments of intimacy. I understand what you’re saying that it violates the “code of conduct”. My question is why now? Why all of a sudden the question comes up that they face expulsion. Should that not have been the case in December of 2012 when the incident happened?